Spindle tip member for mounting a spool



Jan. 22, 1963 TSUGUHIDE FUJIYOSHI ET AL SPINDLE TIP MEMBER FOR MOUNTING A SPOOL Filed Feb. 19, 1959 F/EE.

2 Sheets$heet 1 F/EI 5.

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Jan. 22, 1963 TSUGUHIDE 'FUJIYOSHI EI'AL 3,

SPINDLE TIP MEMBER FOR MOUNTING A SPOOL Filed Feb. 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/fi. 4. F/EE.

I! ZZ United States Patent SFMDLE TIP MEMBER FOR MOUNTENG A SPDOL Tsugnhide Fnjiyoshi, Nishinomiya-shi, and Yoshio Kodama, Amagasalri-shi, Japan, assignors to Toyo Rayon Co. Ltd. and Nihon Spindle Manufacturing (10., Ltd,

Toloyo, Japan, corporations of Japan Filed Feb. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 794,340 Claims priority, application Japan Feb. 21, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 57-130) The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for supporting a spool in a spinning machine and in similar machines such as twisting machines. The invention relates more particularly to improvements of spindles and associated parts.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved structure which will not allow the associated spool to continue its rotation due to inertia independently of the associated spindle when a braking force is applied to the latter. A further object of the invention is to avoid the possibility that an eccentric relationship can occur between a spindle and the associated spool thereby avoiding abnormal vibration of the spindle and the spool which is harmful to smooth operation.

Still another object is to provide a holding force between a spindle and the associated spool which is sufiicient to hold them securely together and avoids slippage between them during rotation.

Yet another object is to make the clearance between the spindle and spool relatively small at the upper portions thereof since if this spacing is too wide it will become the cause of abnormal vibration.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of sliding members on the tip portion of a spindle which bear against the internal wall surface of a spool to eliminate automatically the clearance between the internal Wall surface of the spool and the tip portion of the spindle.

Another feature of the present invention is that the sliding members establish a wedge engagement between the spool and the tip portion of the spindle thereby increasing the holding force between them.

Another feature of the present invention is that clearance between the spindle and spool is avoided and the central axis of the spindle and the central axis of the spool are always maintained in coincidence to avoid vibration during rotation.

Moreover, since the holding force acting between the spindle and spool in the present invention is great, it is possible to shorten the length of a spindle. The shortening of the spindle makes it easier to tilt the spool in the mounting and dismounting thereof in conjunction with the large clearance which is provided between the spindle and the spool as already described above. It is also possible to make the spindle with a relatively small diameter since all the members associated with the spindle are symmetrical and maintained in concentric position.

An important feature of the present invention is that a tip is fixed on the top portion of the spindle and said tip is provided with a cam part having inclined surfaces for guiding and moving sliding members radially to bear against the internal wall surface of the spindle or away from said surface.

Other improvements of the present invention involve in the mode of assembly of various members as will be explained hereinafter with reference to accompanying drawings illustrating some embodiments of the present invention.

It is to be understood that the characteristics of the present invention are as described in the claims and the invention of the present application is not limited by the following detailed explanation made with reference to the drawings.

Efi'i hZZ? Patented Jan. 22, 1963 The present invention will be now explained with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating some embodiments of the present invention. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a general front view of an apparatus for supporting a spool according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the top portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the relation between the tip portion of a spindle provided with a cam portion and an associated retainer holding a plurality of sliding balls;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the tip portion of FIG. 2 taken at the position of the retainer;

FIG. 4 is a front view, partially shown in cross section, of another embodiment of the present invention, showing a spindle provided with a cam part and a tip portion, said tip portion being adapted to act at the same time as a retainer of balls;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the appartus of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a front view, partially shown in cross section, of the apparatus of still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the appartus of still another embodiment of the present invention which has a buffer between the spindle and the cam mounted thereon;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a conventional spool which has notches at the bottom; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conventional wharve provided with nooks for the engagement with the notches of the conventional spool as illustrated in FIG. 9.

In FIGS 1-3, a spool is detachably mounted on a spindle 1 provided with a tip portion 4 which has a locally enlarged diameter thereby to form a spherical periphery which contacts the internal wall surface of the upper portion of the spool 2 along a contacting edge of narrow width. The contacting edge has a circumferential depression and the bottom of the depression is formed by a cam portion 7. Said cap has three valleys spaced by equal distances and having inclined guide surfaces 5 and 7 respectively. Sliding members 8 such as balls or rollers are installed in the valleys and are rotatable along the guide surfaces 5 and 6 of the cam 7. When the sliding members are rotated along the inclined surfaces, they are moved in radial direction to bear against the internal wall of the spool or to depart from the said wall. The sliding members are supported by a retainer which hold them in such a manner as to permit the rotation and the radial movement mentioned above.

In the conventional construction, the spool 2 has notches 10 at the bottom end as illustrated in FIG. 9 and these notches are engaged with nock 11 of a wharve 12 as illustrated in FIG. 10 for the transmission of rotation from the spindle to the spool. In contrast to such a construction, in the apparatus of the present invention, such an engagement is not required.

When the spindle 1 is rotated in one direction, e.g. clockwise, the spool 2 and the retainer 9 will be retained at a standstill or at least will be retarded because of the inertia of the spool and the retainer as well as the friction between them. However, the sliding members or balls or rollers 8, loosely supported on the inclined surfaces of the cam 4 will be rotated and will move from a deep portion of the valley on the cam to a shallow portion of the valley to be pushed outwardly by the cam which is fixed on the spindle 1. Thus the rollers 8 are pushed outwardly against the internal wall of the spool 2, and the spindle l and the spool 2 are engaged by a wedge action of the sliding members and they rotate as if they were integral with each other.

On the other hand, when the spindle 1 is stopped suddenly, the spool still continues its rotation due to inertia and the rollers are rotated to proceed to the corresponding deeper portions on the inclined guiding surface 6 and depart from the internal Wall of the spool. Thus the rotation of the spool 2 is stopped easily and rapidly.

When the spool 2 is stopped, the balls 8 are in the deep positions thereby making the dismounting of the spool 2 from the spindle '1 easy. It is possible to make the slope of the surface 6 more acute than the slope of the surface in order to make the effect of the stopping of the spindle 1 more effective and rapid.

The device illustrated in FIGS. 4- and 5 is a modification based on the same principle as explained above. In this embodiment, the tip portion 4' of a spindle 1 has a cam portion 7' which has inclined guiding surfaces 5 and other inclined guiding surfaces 6 in continuous relation, and the inclination of the former is gentle while that of the latter is acute. This tip portion 4' is made separately and is fixed tightly on the top portion of spindle 1'. The surface member of the tip portion 4 of the spindle l is a separate member 9' and this forms the surface part of the tip portion 4 and at the same time acts as the retainer for sliding balls 8'. These balls 8 are rotatable on the surface of the cam 7' to make circumferential movements and at the same time to move radially to bear against the internal wall of spool 2' or depart from said wall according to the position of balls 3' on the guiding surface of the cam 4 as in the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate still another embodiment of the present invention based on the same principle as explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In this embodiment, the cam portion 7" provided with gently sloping guiding surfaces 5" and steep surfaces 6" in coninuation is formed directly on a top circumferential drum on the top part of a spindle 1", and a tip surface part which is also used as a retainer 9" holding the sliding members 8" as in the device of FIGS. 4 and 5 is associated with said top portion of the spindle.

The members designated by reference numeral 13, 13 and 13" in FIGS. 3, 5 and 7 are buffers which may be used in these devices. A part or the whole of the outer circumference of the retainer 9 may be in contact with the internal surface of the wall of the spool 2" and said contacting surface or parts thereof at equal intervals may have a greater coefficient of friction than the other parts. For this purpose, frictional elements made of rubber or leather may be provided on the outer circumference at predetermined intervals.

The sliding members 8" may be made of elastic material such as,.for.instance, nylon.

FIG. 8 illustrates another buffer. In said figure, 14 is a recess provided in the cam portion 7" to allow a limited elastic rotation between the cam portion 7" and the spindle 1" thereby to mitigate the shock which may be caused in the starting or the stopping of the rotation of the spindle 1'. The spindle has a projection 15" and is engaged with a buffer device 16' provided in the recess 14. This buffer device 16 may be a spring or a rubber device which is stretched in the recess. This buffer does not interfere with the rotation of the spindle and the spool when they are rotated in union, but in the starting and the sudden stopping of the rotation of the spindle, it will act to mitigate the impact caused by the change of the relative rotation between the spindle 1' andthe spool.

In FIG. 2, the upper part 17 of the tip portion constitutes a cap member which is composed of a body separate from the main body of the tip portion 4 and is detachably fixed thereon by a set screw 18 to form between the two parts 4 and 17 an annular recess to facilitate the mounting and dismounting of the retainer 9. The retainer 9 holding balls 8 is arranged rotatably in the annular groove be- 4 tween the upper part 17 and the main body of the tip portion 4.

In FIG. 4, the upper portion 19 of the retainer is made separately from the main body of the retainer in order to facilitate the mounting and dismounting of the balls 3 and the retainer is slidably supported around the tip portion 4. of the spindle l by means of a cap member constituted by a washer 2t and a stop spring or ring 22 in a circumferential groove 21 of the spindle 1.

In FIG. 6, the tip portion which serves at the same time as the retainer has an upper portion 23 formed separately and said upper portion is retained in position by a cap member constituted by an elastic stop ring 2 f which is detachable when desired. In said figure, the member indicated by 25 is a lower stop ring which is preferably of a spring type which may be attached and detached as desired. The device illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be used advantageously with a spindle of small dimension.

The present invention as explained above may be modified in many ways in the construction and arrangement of the constituent parts without departing from the spirit and the principle of the present invention and therefore it is to be understood that these modifications are not excluded from the present invention by the explanations above described.

We claim:

1. In combination with a spindle having a determinable outer diameter and a spool having a larger inner diameter; apparatus for mounting the spool on said spindle and comprising a tip member detachably mounted on said spindle and concentric therewith, a cam on said tip member and concentric therewith, said cam including a plurality of equi-spaced radial protrusions having sloped sides defining intervening valleys, a ring retainer rotatable onsaid tip member and defining openings aligned with said cam, balls in said openings and displaceable by said cam into positions of engagement with said spool by relative rotation of said spindle and spool in either direction, said spindle and spool being coupled together in driving relation with said bails engaged by said cam against said spool, and a cap member on said spindle for locking said cam thereon, said spool and spindle being longitudinally movable relative to one another with said balls in the valleys of the cam, said spindle including an end portion of reduced diameter and a shoulder thereon separating the end portion and the remainder of the spindle, said tip member abutting said shoulder, said end portion being provided with an annular groove spaced from said shoulder, the cap member comprising a washer on said tip member and a ring in said groove, said ring being effective through said washer to hold said tip member against said shoulder.

2. In combination with a spindle having a determinable outer diameter and a spool having a'larger inner diameter; apparatus for mounting the spool on said spindle and comprising a tip member detachably mounted on said spindle and concentric therewith, a cam on said tip member and concentric therewith, said cam including a plurality of equi-spaced radial protrusions having sloped sides defining intervening valleys, a ring retainer rotatable on said tip member and defining openings aligned with said cam, balls in said openings and displaceable by said cam into positions of engagement with said spool by relative rotation of said spindle and spool in either direction, said spindle and spool being coupled together in driving relation with said balls engaged by said cam against said spool, and a cap member on said spindle for locking said cam thereon, said spool and spindle being longitudinally movable relative to one another with said balls in the valleys of the cam, said spindle and cam being elastically coupled elements, one of said elements including a radial extension and the other of said elements including a spring engaged by said extension whereby is permitted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Draper Dec. 11, 1900 Villiers-Stuart June 15, 1909 Marzoli Apr. 29, 1941 Peterson June 16, 1942 Pichette Nov. 22, 1949 Lerch July 24, 1951 6 Dunlap Feb. 2, 1954 Childs et a1. Dec. 11, 1956 Fisher Aug. 20, 1957 Morgan Aug. 4, 1959 Spaetgens Get. 27, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Dec. 17, 1957 France Sept. 9, 1929 France Dec. 26, 1955 France Dec. 26, 1955 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A SPINDLE HAVING A DETERMINABLE OUTER DIAMETER AND A SPOOL HAVING A LARGER INNER DIAMETER; APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING THE SPOOL ON SAID SPINDLE AND COMPRISING A TIP MEMBER DETACHABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SPINDLE AND CONCENTRIC THEREWITH, A CAM ON SAID TIP MEMBER AND CONCENTRIC THEREWITH, SAID CAM INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF EQUI-SPACED RADIAL PROTRUSIONS HAVING SLOPED SIDED DEFINING INTERVENING VALLEYS, A RING RETAINER ROTATABLE ON SAID TIP MEMBER AND DEFINING OPENINGS ALIGNED WITH SAID CAM, BALLS IN SAID OPENINGS AND DISPLACEABLE BY SAID CAM INTO POSITIONS OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SPOOL BY RELATIVE ROTATION OF SAID SPINDLE AND SPOOL IN EITHER DIRECTION, SAID SPINDLE AND SPOOL BEING COUPLED TOGETHER IN DRIVING RELATION WITH SAID BALLS ENGAGED BY SAID CAM AGAINST SAID SPOOL, AND A CAP MEMBER ON SAID SPINDLE FOR LOCKING SAID CAM THEREON, SAID SPOOL AND SPINDLE BEING LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER WITH SAID BALLS IN THE VALLEYS OF THE CAM, SAID SPINDLE INCLUDING AN END PORTION OF REDUCED DIAMETER AND A SHOULDER THEREON SEPARATING THE END PORTION AND THE REMAINDER OF THE SPINDLE, SAID TIP MEMBER ABUTTING SAID SHOULDER, SAID END PORTION BEING PROVIDED WITH AN ANNULAR GROOVE SPACED FROM SAID SHOULDER, THE CAP MEMBER COMPRISING A WASHER ON SAID TIP MEMBER AND A RING IN SAID GROOVE, SAID RING BEING EFFECTIVE THROUGH SAID WASHER TO HOLD SAID TIP MEMBER AGAINST SAID SHOULDER. 